As we acknowledge Speech Pathology Week, we offer a big congratulations to speech pathologists Grace Schofield and Jenny Walsh who are our STAR Award winners for Excellence in Research, Innovation and Teaching! This category recognises an individual or team who develops innovative ways to improve the quality of healthcare and service delivery.
(L-R): Jenny Walsh, Grace Schofield, Will Holt and Tim Harris.
As part of a team including people with lived experience of aphasia, as well as students from the Monash Institute of Medical Engineering and Monash Young MedTech Innovators, Grace and Jenny developed the website called Project QWERTY to assist clients living with aphasia.
Aphasia is a communication disability that affects how a person understands a conversation, speaks, reads and writes. It can be caused by stroke, head injury, tumour or infection that results in damage to the brain’s language centre. Aphasia can significantly impact someone’s quality of life and mental health. As a result, living with aphasia can alter relationships with family and friends, make it harder to do everyday tasks like shopping, and impact someone’s ability to work.
Project QWERTY is a unique, customisable website that offers a high-tech but simple-to-use solution to a life-changing health care problem. The site allows people with aphasia to improve their writing skills by typing and spelling words that are meaningful to them, such as the names of friends and family.
“We recognise that Monash Health is at the forefront of innovative practice and we are humbled to be acknowledged for our small contribution to this space,” Grace says.
“It is particularly timely that the Project QWERTY team receives this award during Speech Pathology Week,” says Jenny. “We see this as an opportunity to put aphasia on the map and increase the understanding of the impact of a communication disability on a person’s life.”
Grace has used the website to help a client practice words unique to their workplace, which enabled them to continue running their own business. Other clients have used it to help them access online news or even footy scores. Project QWERTY focuses on giving people with aphasia independence to live their lives, whatever that may look like to them.
A huge thank you to Grace and Jenny for their innovation which will no doubt improve the quality of life of countless people.
Jenny and Grace would like to acknowledge all of the wonderful Project QWERTY team.
- Benjamin Smith, Business Intelligence Analyst, Speech Pathologist and creator of the Typing Rehab app on which Project QWERTY was based
- Abby Foster, Allied Health Research Advisor
- Caroline Baker, Research and Clinical Practice Lead
- Jamieson Sebire, Allied Health Assistant
- Monash Health Community Speech Pathology team
- Monash Health Community clients with aphasia (consumers)
- Eliza Cripps and Tim Harris, Monash University HISS scholars
- Monash University HISS scholarship team
- William Holt and Robert Angelone, volunteers
For more information about the website, please visit Project QWERTY. You can also find more information about aphasia here.
If you would like to nominate a colleague or team, you can do so at any time by visiting the STAR Awards portal. For more information about the STAR Awards program, visit the Monash Health COVID-19 website.
Approved by Karen Lowe